We’ve read about flow. Although it’s technically “a state of concentration or complete absorption with the activity at hand and the situation,” it’s also indicative of what gives you momentum. More important than flow itself, then, is the ability to identify what exactly gives you momentum, what exactly gives you energy.
This is what makes the needle move.
It tells you information about yourself; it makes you introspect; it makes you build a flywheel. Jim Collins explains the flywheel concept pretty well, and the idea of a ‘personal flywheel’ is incredibly similar as well.
Identify what drives you. Fix it. Find connected components that give you momentum. This will drive you even more. Be driven. Then, find more connected components. Do this until the flywheel gains enough momentum to sustain itself.
And finally, as you identify what drives you and fix it, you will enjoy the game, the plateau.
That’s what matters.